CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The No. 12/10 Fighting Irish suffered a 12-8 defeat against No. 2/3 Virginia in their ACC opener at Klöckner Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Eric Dobson and Pat Kavanagh each scored two goals to lead the Irish attack. Liam Entenmann finished with 10 saves.
Freshman Will Lynch had his best performance of the season at the dot, winning 15-of-20 faceoffs while scooping three ground balls.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Virginia struck first to open up an early 1-0 lead but the Irish leveled the score at 1-1 at the 12:40 mark off an EMO goal from Eric Dobson.
The Irish offense then went cold for the majority of the half, as Virginia scored five straight to open up a 6-1 lead. Notre Dame managed to get one back right before the half, as Reilly Gray curled around the crease and scored a bouncer to make it 6-2 at the break.
Notre Dame opened the third quarter with a goal on its first possession to cut the Cavalier lead to 6-3. Pat Kavanagh found space and rifled a shot in for the goal. However, Virginia responded with three straight over the next 10 minutes of action to push their lead to 9-3.
The Irish were able to pull one back with just under three minutes left in the frame, as Entenmann made a save and sparked a transition goal, which was scored by Quinn McCahon to make the score 9-4 heading into the fourth.
Virginia scored the first two goals of the fourth to make the score 11-4 before Dobson found the back of the net for the second time of the afternoon to move the score to 11-5. The Cavaliers added an empty-net goal to take a seven-goal advantage at 12-5.
In the final 80 seconds of play the Irish scored three goals, as Dobson, Morrison Mirer and Pat Kavanagh each scored to make the final score 12-8.
UP NEXT
The Irish return to Arlotta Stadium to take on Syracuse at 2 p.m. ET on Saturday, April 2 for the first of two matchups against the Orange this season. The game will air on ESPNU.
The game will be a Mental Health Awareness Game, raising awareness for mental health and honoring the former Notre Dame lacrosse player Tommy O’Brien. Fans will be able to purchase “Mental Matters” t-shirts, with proceeds going to both the Tommy O’Brien Fund and the 15 for Life Foundation. You can purchase a shirt here (blue shirts are ND and white shirts are Syracuse).
— ND —